Meeting of minds
by happierhere
Summary: Kate & Osgood Hogwarts AU. How Head Girl Kate Lethbridge-Stewart meets little firstie Osgood and decides to befriend her.


Kate Lethbridge-Stewart claimed her usual seat close to the fireplace. It had been hers since she conquered the bat-bogey-hex in her fifth year. The first few weeks of school had been so hectic she hadn't had time to write her mother more than a 'Hurray-I'm-Head-Girl'-note. Now she finally could – having been bribed into swapping rosters with Head Boy Harkness so he could do his together with that Hufflepuff Jones he had an eye on – she found herself suffering from writer's block.

Another reason she had been avoiding writing home was the Auror application form she had been sent a few days ago. Professor Flitwick had congratulated her, telling her it was a real honor to be recruited this early in the year. She was honored, really. It just wasn't an option she had considered before.

Combined with her mother's campaign for her to get a muggle higher education, it posed quite a dilemma. Kate had, like most muggleborn Ravenclaws, kept up with some muggle courses as well and rather enjoyed maths and biology. Visiting Cambridge and Oxford last summer, seeing the state of the art laboratories and students in jeans - and not in these grey and unflattering robes – had indeed tempted her to leave the magical world for a few years.

Maybe she should sent her dad a letter first? He had been surprisingly ok with her being magical, even though he was a rather traditional man. And as an officer, perhaps he would have some insight into what kind of training she could be facing as an Auror Trainee.

Her reverie was broken by the entrance door slamming open.

She looked up and saw Osgood. The impossibly tiny first year barreled in, out of breath, nearly tripping over her scarf in the process and spilling the contents of her bags all over the floor. Her antics earned the laughter of the other students still in the common room. Some of them turned to the Head Girl to see what she would do.

Kate checked her clock. A few minutes before curfew. Officially she had to do diddly squat. Still, Flitwick liked his firsties in bed on time without nightlights for late-night reading. Kate knew, she had been caught enough times for that particular lesson to stick.

She strolled leisurely over to where Osgood was gathering her books.

Was that a chemistry book? And a mechanical calculator? She had known Osgood was smart… everyone knew that the bespectacled girl was smart. Her teachers had practically fawned over her when they realized she had read and understood the reading list for the first three years. Unfortunately theory was not practice. All the house points the girl had earned with her intellectual prowess she had lost during an incident involving her very first brew and Snape's boots. Snape's resulting grudge, unfairly targeted at all Ravenclaws hadn't endeared her with her – already jealous – housemates. Still, Kate would be willing to overlook all that for a chance at that calculator.

Kate fixed Osgood with a stern glare. The girl stumbled and nearly dropped the book she was about to put in her bag – this one on animagi Kate noted amusedly - again. She was about to launch into a lecture on timekeeping – more bark than bite since she had her reputation as a hard-ass Head Girl to keep – when she noticed Osgood hadn't gotten her breath under control yet. In fact, it seemed like her breathing was getting worse.

"Oh for heaven's sake! Where's your inhaler?"

"Can't…" Wheeze. "Find…"Wheeze.

Kate shushed the girl and quickly sat her down on the floor.

She glared at the common room and used her best intimidating Lethbridge-Steward-voice: "Her inhaler! Now!".

No one moved, but she saw several guilty eyes meet each other over text books.

She rolled her eyes and drew her wand, pointing it at the group of most likely suspects: "Accio inhaler."

It flew over and she dropped it into Osgood's hands. The girl looked at her in awe, Kate could nearly see her brain churning away and memorizing the spell to take apart later. Admirable, but she forgot one important thing. She shoved the girl gently and urged her: "Inhaler!".

Sheepishly Osgood held the inhaler to her mouth and puffed. Kate rolled her eyes. She knew Osgood had found friends in Oswald and Pink - a second and a first year – but she had no idea she had inherited their foolish Gryffindor self-preservation skills. Oswald had been the bane of her prefecture last year. She had had to save the girl twice from the clutches of the Giant Squid. She was pretty sure the girl had lied about the reasons she had been on the lake in the first place as well.

But now for her own in-house problems. Letting Osgood catch her breath, she walked towards the study group responsible for the theft.

"I really should tell professor Flitwick…" With a raised hand she silenced the protests. She knew quite well prefects usually turned a blind eye to the time-old tradition of stealing books and socks from undesirable housemates. It usually was a good incentive to learn more about protective wards. No better way to earn respect amongst Ravenclaws than to impress with a spell above their year level. But stealing medicine? That was a bridge too far! She glared at the culprits.

"I won't. But I do expect all of her belongings to have magically reappeared when we return from the infirmary."

Harper - a third year and probably the instigator - huffed: "Look, it was just a joke. We didn't know…"

Kate cut him off: "You didn't know? Are you denser than a first year Hufflepuff? She wheezes, she puffs, she breathes. Cause and effect. What did you think would happen? She'd burst out in song?"

That remark earned a few snickers across the room. She also saw realization that Osgood could have been hurt – really hurt, starting to seep into the minds of her fellow students.

"Didn't you want to become a healer, Owen? Try not killing your future patients."

Not checking if the scathing remark had hit its target – he truly wasn't a bad kid, he'd get the point eventually - she turned her attention back to Osgood.

The girl was breathing normally again and looking at her with big puppy dog eyes. Kate resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

"Let's go," she said, while helping her get up.

"Oh, but I'm fine now," the younger girl piped up, dusting of her robes.

Kate just fixed her with a glare and took her tote bag – damn, was she carrying around bricks as well as books? – from her. She put it down near the door, careful not the jostle the calculator that her hands itched for. She then pointed at towards the door. To her satisfaction the younger girl obeyed.

This kid had potential, Kate thought. She just needed someone to keep her from killing herself. A mentor, who could perhaps learn some things in return.


End file.
